Culture and costums of Korea Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Culture and costums of Korea - Assignment Example Culture refers to a set of socially transmitted human behaviors, beliefs, arts, among other thoughts and works of the human mind. The definition implies that culture is reliant on the interaction and integration of humans. Historically, regions had secluded boundaries owing to the numerous geographical barrier such as mountains, seas and rivers, which enclosed specific regions thus cutting off human interactions. At such times, regions had specific cultures defining their languages, arts, dietary and religion among many other aspects of human lives. However, with the onset of industrial revolution, the use of machines resulted in the invention of better ways of transportation and communication thus overcoming the previously existing geographical barriers. Located in North East Asia, Korea is an expansive territory currently divided into two political territories; North Korea and South Korea because of divergent political interests of both the leaders and the citizens (Kleiner, 2001). The use of the internet in the modern society and the advanced modes of communication such as mobile phones have resulted in the creation of a global village in which people can live anywhere and work anywhere. The intensified human interactions in the contemporary society have therefore revolutionized culture. A conflict between the previously definite traditional cultures and the modern culture has diverse effects depending on the type of the society. Whenever cultures conflict, the people abandon their previous cultural practices that they consider backward and adopt certain features of the new culture that they feel appropriate. Culture in the modern global society is relative and liberal with every individual and social institution choosing only the specific cultural practices that best protects their interests. Korea is one such region in which the conflict between the traditional culture and the modern culture is evident and the effects of the modern culture on the tradition al culture thus manifest itself. The division of the region into two might have affected the culture of the people in the region but since culture is reliant on the interaction of humans, the regions still share some of their cultural practices as they had throughout history with their neighbors in the eastern bloc such as China and Japan. Both the south and North Korea are developed economies and industrial hubs. South Korea for example is home to some of the leading electronics manufacturing companies such Samsung and HTC among many other local and international brands. With an internet infiltration of more than seventy percent, Korea is an active part of the global village as her citizens interact with others throughout the world. Korea has numerous international airports and attracts millions of tourists annually. Such features of both the economy and social structure imply that the intensified human interactions in the modern Korea presents numerous cultural conflicts as the mo dern culture through the revamped interactions and economic activities in the modern society. Previously, Korea had definitive cultural practices and arts. Such practices included specific languages, religions, arts such as ceramics and dietary among others. However, with time the region opened up for trade with the West and other parts of the world such as African and South America. Coupled with the concepts of urbanization, globalizations seamlessly turned the expansive Korean region into a metropolitan society habiting people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Korea thus forms an effective choice for the study assignment since the cultural conflict between the traditional and new culture is evident. The society is developed and industrial; the living pattern of the people has changed with time to the perfect urban settings in the modern Korea. Such a society thus exhibits diverse cultural patterns as native Koreans continue holding onto some of their traditional cultural practice s